FAQ Page

for Slaughter of the Dissidents (SOD)

This page offers you access to a variety of frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to the book, Slaughter of the Dissidents (SOD).

What is the main point of the book?

The book documents the existence of a form of viewpoint discrimination that has been ongoing in academia, the media, our courts, and the scientific community for more than the past three decades. The discrimination exposed in the book is directed at people who are Darwin Doubters or Darwin Skeptics. Several case studies are offered which document the stories of victims, who are routinely denied the treatment and benefits afforded to their colleagues; educators are denied tenure, students are denied degrees, and scientists are denied the opportunity to conduct scientific experiments or publish their findings in many mainline peer reviewed science journals. Many other tactics are also employed to ensure that the credibility, careers, and influence of these people is thoroughly destroyed, and that they are blackballed from teaching or practicing science elsewhere. The book underscores the tactics used against these people and advocates the abolishment of the types of discrimination illustrated in the case studies presented in the book.

Is this type of discrimination very widespread?

Actually, it is especially widespread within America and the United Kingdom. While not all academic or scientific institutions engage in the tactics used against Darwin Skeptics, it is a growing trend.

Shouldn't we deny creationists or ID sympathizers any role as educators in our academic institutions? After all, aren't these folks promoting and/or advocating a 'religious' perspective?

Denying someone a role as an educator simply for their alleged religious views is illegal in the U.S., and is a serious Civil Rights violation. And, many victims of discrimination discussed in SOD did not impermissibly teach 'religion' in their classes, or practice pseudoscience in the lab. Yet this is the view held by and promoted by many critics who are intolerant of people who hold to design oriented assumptions about the origin of life and the universe. In the U.S., we are told that we have freedom of speech, but the reality is that this freedom is often denied to Darwin skeptics because they are deemed to be 'religious' and their views are maginalized as 'pseudoscience' and are further postured as a threat to science education. Many Darwin Skeptics are admittedly theists, however, this should not be viewed as a reason to silence, remove, or eliminate them from their positions as educators or science practitioners. Many educators and scientists understand the difference between addressing origins issues from a religious or a scientific approach. SOD examines this issue in detail, and exposes the hypocrisy and bigotry dished out to Darwin Skeptics all across America today.

Isn't it illegal to teach religion in our science classes? Isn't this a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?

This is one of the most widely promoted and misunderstood aspects of the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans. Not every educator who holds 'religious beliefs' acts on them or impermissibly promotes them in class. SOD also examines the views all educators are allowed to express, both in and out of the classroom. The book delves into detail about what happens once colleagues and adminstration officials learn that one of their educators is a Darwin Skeptic, showing how the First Amendment is being improperly used as a tool to silence them.

Why does this form of discrimination persist?

Primarily because many critics of Design oriented assumptions about the universe insist that people with 'religious' views should not and cannot teach or practice science because their 'religious beliefs' render them incompetent for such positions. SOD examines this flawed approach towards Darwin skeptics and explains what the real issues are.

What is the connection between this book and the movie Expelled?

The movie Expelled, starring Ben Stein, opens by briefly presenting several cases of people who have been discriminated against for their skepticism about some aspects of Darwinism (read Kevin's review of Expelled here). The movie provides a glimpse into this type of discrimination, but due to the brevity of the treatment for the cases presented in the film, many viewers concluded that the practice of discrimination was exaggerated or not very widespread. SOD offers an in-depth review of this issue and demonstrates that in fact the discrimination is often much worse than what is depicted in the film, and is very widespread. In short, SOD documents that the type of discrimination brought out in the film is not only well-founded, but ubiquitous.

How long has this type of discrimination being going on?

We believe it's been ongoing for more than 30 years, and has been steadily on the rise more recently. One observer made this observation back in 1984:

"There are certainly a good number of scientists who now reject the concepts of evolution -- not on religious grounds, but on strictly scientific grounds. Most of them are keeping their own council. Outwardly they support evolution (so as to be in step with their peers) but inwardly they have second thoughts on the subject. It is not too easy to take a stand against the beliefs of the majority, and expose oneself to ridicule, especially when one's job and academic and professional prospects are on the line. It is only the very brave and those highly placed scientists whose standings are universally acknowledged (and thus, secure) that can afford to contradict the general trend."

Cohen, I.L. in Darwin Was Wrong - A Study in Probabilities. New Research Publications, Inc., New York, NY (1984), p.213-214.

Is the title of this book a bit over the top? Extreme? Sensationalistic?

Comment from a blogger: "Khan"

These hardly seem like horror stories worthy of the over-the-top title:

- a pro-ID student got a bad rec letter from one of his professors

- a professor said some silly things about rescinding the degrees of creationist graduates (his suggestions were not implemented)

- a professor who tried to teach his doubts on the chemical origin of life got yelled at by his chair

The worst is probably that a professor proposing “teach the controversy” got some death threats. So did Judge Jones. Does this really amount to a “slaughter”?

Response from Kevin Wirth:

This assumption that the discrimination couldn’t really be all THAT bad is something Jerry and I anticipated long before we even published this book. We expect that a lot of folks simply wouldn’t be prepared for the depth and viciousness of the treatment meted out to many Darwin skeptics. For that reason, I titled the book SOD to make the point: It really IS that bad in many instances. This is something we really DO need to pay attention to. This isn’t just a violation of basic civil rights, it’s often a brutal attack on the identity of the victims. Many have suffered the loss of not just their current jobs, but their entire career as well because not only do educators get denied tenure, students get denied degrees, and scientists get kicked out of whatever institution they are working for, but they get HOUNDED long afterwards.

The persecutors often want more than your blood, they want to blackball you so that you can’t get a job teaching ANYwhere in academia. They want to attach letters to your transcripts and write nasty letters of recommendation to follow you wherever you may go so you can’t get accepted into another degree program, and they want to make sure everyone knows how 'incompetent' you are so you can’t do labwork anywhere else. If you don’t have tenure, they’ll deny it to you even if you are CLEARLY heads and shoulders above most others in your field, and even though you’ve met all other tenure requirements. If you HAVE tenure, they just move your office to the basement, reassign you to ridiculous courses (and take away the ones you’ve taught for years), and make sure you don’t get any raises to speak of. They make you suffer financially, they heap tremendous amounts of stress into your life, which creates emotional turmoil that trickles down into your relationship with your spouse and kids, often resulting in the breakup of marriages. You are treated with disrespect, get abused with foul language and name-calling, are subjected to continual harassment, and generally have your reputation ruined.

And that’s just for starters.

So, believe me when I say that the title of the book fits.